Financial advice geared to young people is trending on social media: What parents should know

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Social media trends range from silly to risky and often leave us scratching our heads and wondering, "What were they thinking"' but lately, financial advice is hitting the platforms your kids spend their time watching.

While social media is great for fast access to topics, when it comes to financial advice, fast and easy can be a recipe for disaster.

"Everything that we view may not be applicable to our individual specific situation," Kate Langthorn of IMG Financial Group said.

Langthorn adds that just like there is no one-size-fits-all path to be successful, financial advice needs to be tailored to individuals.

She tells us while social media is great for some kinds of advice, like budgeting, other things, like investment strategies or how to make thousands of dollars in a short period of time, are not typically beneficial to a wide audience.

Many social media stars have millions of followers, and young people may be influenced by that popularity and give their financial advice more trust than warranted.

Also, social media stars may not have any financial education and may get paid to push advice that might not be in the best interest of everyone listening.

"It's different between getting advertisement and how licensed professionals get paid. The person with a couple million TikTok followers or whatever it is that they are listening to is probably getting paid to promote whatever it is that they are promoting," Langthorn said.

If you do see something that seems like great advice, treat it as a starting point, search out more information online, and ask a professional. Like any online advice, do not follow it blindly, and make sure your children know that too.

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